


vincent

by Kikiwiki



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: ARCTIC EMPIRE, Bonding, Dream Team SMP Lore (Video Blogging RPF), Found Family, Gen, L'Manberg | L'Manburg on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo - Freeform, philza minecraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:46:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29731314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kikiwiki/pseuds/Kikiwiki
Summary: Phil and Ranboo go hunting together, leading to both learning new things about each other. Some much-needed bonding time after everything the two of them have gone through.
Relationships: Ranboo & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 69





	vincent

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about the headcanon that Phil absentmindedly calls Ranboo "son" sometimes and wrote this. These two have an underrated dynamic, don't you think?

“Hold on. Any second now, they should come.”

Phil placed a hand on Ranboo’s arm to keep him in place in the bushes they were hiding in. His other hand was placed on the handle of his sword, ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

Ranboo looked at the sharp blade and gulped. It had slayed many foes in the past, and he pitied anyone who ended up on the other side of it. He looked back out at the clearing, where a family of unsuspecting rabbits emerged from the trees a few feet away.

“On my mark.” Ranboo nodded and pulled back the rubber band on the slingshot he had crudely made an hour before. The stone was coated in a sleep draught so the victim would die peacefully. He aimed for the largest one, probably the father, and looked at Phil for his word.

Phil waited a moment, watching the animals with intense focus. “Ready… go!” Whispering an apology to the rabbit, he let the stone go. It hit its mark perfectly, and it didn’t even have time to react before it was knocked out. The rest of its family scattered back into the forest, and Ranboo cringed at the small trickle of blood that ran down its face. He hated hunting, but he told himself it was necessary if he wanted to make Phil and Techno happy. Besides, he had to help out some way or another if he was gonna live with them. Otherwise he’d feel bad, and it wasn’t like he really had anywhere else to go.

Phil stood up and went over to the creature, Ranboo following. “A clean hit, straight in the eye! You have good aim, son.”

Ranboo reddened. “Thanks, Phil.” He averted his eyes as Phil used a dagger to cut into the rabbit and take the meat inside. The metallic scent of fresh blood permeated the air. The two of them were comfortably silent through the process. Ranboo listened to the trickle of a distant stream and the chirps of birds in the treetops. It was surprisingly peaceful.

“Right,” Phil eventually stood, holding the rabbit meat wrapped in a neat package of butcher paper and twine, “all done. Now let’s return before Techno worries about us.” Ranboo had a hard time imagining Techno actually worrying about him, of all people, but he just nodded and followed Phil’s lead back through the forest.

A hush fell on the two of them again- the forest made more than enough noise for the both of them, after all. Ranboo let his mind wander as he watched Phil navigate them back on the path they had taken. Phil had always been so kind to him, offering him a home after the doomsday fight and helping him replenish his resources. He appreciated him, and Techno too. Repaying them by helping out where he could and giving them gifts (or rent, as Techno called them) was the least he could do.

Ranboo’s mind wandered until his thoughts were interrupted by a song. His ears perked up and he recognized the deep voice as Phil’s. It tugged at some emotions he didn’t realize he had, light yet filled with a deep melancholy that ran deep into the heart. He almost halted in place just to be able to fully focus on the lyrics.

Starry, starry night  
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze  
Swirling clouds in violet haze  
Reflect in Vincent’s eyes of china blue

Colors changing hue  
Morning fields of amber grain  
Weathered faces lined with pain  
Are soothed beneath the artist’s loving hand

Now, I understand, what you tried to say to me  
How you suffered for your sanity  
How you tried to set them free  
They would not listen, they did not know how  
Perhaps they’ll listen now

For they could not love you  
But still your love was true  
And when no hope was left inside  
On that starry, starry night

You took your life as lovers often do  
But I could have told you, Vincent  
This world was never meant for one  
As beautiful as you

Phil continued to hum the tune, but Ranboo was lost in the memory of the words he sang. How tragic the story they told seemed to be, the tale of a young man tormented by something no one else seemed to see. He wondered at Phil’s past- what sort of things had he gone through to have the ability to sing like that, the things he must’ve seen and done- and it made him respect the man all the greater.

“You alright, mate?” Phil looked over his shoulder at Ranboo with a questioning expression. Ranboo hadn’t realized it, but he had been so deep in thought that he stopped walking. Phil was a few paces ahead of him on the path.

“Ah, yes! Sorry!” Ranboo jogged to catch up with him, a pink tinge on his cheeks. “Just… distracted.”

Phil raised an eyebrow. “What’s on your mind?”

“It’s just- uh, your singing. Your voice is really nice…” Ranboo’s face greatly resembled a tomato by this point, but he pushed on. “I don’t mean to be intrusive, but I wanted to ask- er.” He breathed in, then out, and decided to quit pandering and just say it. “You were singing about Wilbur, weren’t you?”

Ranboo watched as Phil’s face hardened. He fell silent and Ranboo cringed, cursing himself for being so nosy. Just as he was considering the best way to apologize, Phil spoke again.

“I still think about him every day, Ranboo. Hell, I can’t stop thinking about him.” On his mouth was the ghost of a smile. “He touched so many lives with his fiery spirit, the way he’d be able to sway everyone in a room with his determined speeches and how his voice paired with a guitar could inspire even the most lost of individuals. Just his presence alone would give people the fighting spirit they needed to win battles. He inspired a revolution, founded a nation, created a family. He meant so much to us, and he was repaid with… with torment. Torment that drove him to insanity, Ranboo. I didn’t even-” Phil’s voice wavered. “I didn’t even get to tell him how proud I was of everything he did. I’m his father yet I was a stranger to him when he needed me the most. What I’d give- no, what I wouldn’t give to go back to the moment he pressed the button. How many times I’d relive it just to find another ending.”

Ranboo had only joined New L’Manberg a few months ago, only heard the legacy Wilbur left behind after his death. He knew Ghostbur, sure, but his memory was fractured (much like his own). The true Wilbur seemed to have been so much more. A symbol of peace, or perhaps a symbol of war? He couldn’t tell, and this lack of understanding made him unsure of how to properly respond. He fumbled with his words.

“It’s alright, mate, you don’t have to say anything. I’ve lived a long life, and Wilbur was the only son I had. It made me realize some things, actually. Traveling the wide world, doing great things, meeting new people, all of it was wonderful, but I never realized how lonely that life was until Will came along. The way he saw the world was so different from me. I remember how he’d point out the pretty sky lanterns he’d see during village festivals and mention how much they looked like stars. Things I’d never given a second thought to, he made me see them for the first time. Really see them. And it made me think about how much there still is to see, if I’d just pay attention. He was good at that, making people reconsider their views of things. My Will… my son.” Ranboo looked over at Phil when he stopped, noticing his eyes had glazed over.

“... How long have you been holding that in for?”

Phil chuckled. “Sometimes I talk to Techno about it, but he knew Will too so it’s a sensitive subject between us. Otherwise, nobody else cares to listen. You know how the others saw him. As nothing but a villain.” He knitted his brows.

“What about Tommy?”

He sighed. “Tommy… an impressionable child. He looked up to him more than he did anyone else. They were brothers, truly. When Tommy was living at the Arctic Empire with us, I do remember trying to talk to him about it once or twice. Regardless of how I broached the subject, he’d escape from the conversation the first chance he got. As much as I’d like to explain myself to him, he watched me from the final control room that day. He saw me plunge the blade into his chest, saw him fall to his knees before me. I took away the only guiding figure in his life, and that isn’t something a simple clarification could resolve.”

“But it’s never too late to try, right?” Phil stared at him, and Ranboo rushed to elaborate. “I mean, Tommy is still a kid just like you said! He still needs someone to guide him in the right direction, after everything that he’s been through. He needs someone like you- and if you’re both as lost as you seem after Wilbur’s death, maybe the two of you can finally find something in each other. Something you can use to move on.”

Phil continued to stare at him for a few seconds and Ranboo was worried he said something wrong. The eye contact made him uncomfortable, so he stared at the path ahead.“Wh- what is it?”

Phil cracked a smile. “You have a lot more going on in your head than I gave you credit for, son.” Ranboo giggled, a light feeling blooming inside him.

“Home sweet home!” Ranboo looked up, not realizing they had already returned to the cabin. “Right, I’m going to get tonight’s meal cooking.” Phil took a few steps forward, but hesitated. “And Ranboo?”

“Yeah?”

“I might not be able to be that guiding figure for Tommy- not to say I won’t at least try, of course- but I can be that for you, if you’d like. No promises, but… I could try.”

Ranboo stopped in his tracks, the wind fluttering his cape and hair. He smiled. “I-I think I’d like that a lot, Phil. … Thank you.”

Back in his little home, Ranboo opened his memory book up to a new page to record today’s experience. He didn’t want to forget this.


End file.
